Leaving on a jet plane

Ah yes, where have we been? Firing Bertie, of course. What? You’ve heard that one already…?

OK, moving swiftly on to more exciting departures:

This Saturday we’re heading off to San Sebastián in the Basque Country, Spain.

After city breaks (Edinburgh, Paris, New York, Barcelona and er, Cork) that have left us knackered, I was hoping this one would consist of reading, photographing, eating and sleeping. However, true to form, we couldn’t quite commit ourselves to 10 days of just that and so the holiday is now peppered with a few other fun things.

Landing in Bilbao, we’re going to spend a few days there, Guggenheim-ing and doing a bit of shopping. Then it’s on to San Sebastián.

The region is known for it’s yummy, yummy pintxos – similar to tapas, in that they are small, but the ones in SS have loftier ambitions and are often mini masterpieces, resembling Japanese sushi in their subtle intricacy. To better acquaint ourselves with the city’s gastronomic delights, we’re hoping to do a two day cookery course with El Txoko del Gourmet (I say hope because it’s an extra €280 for an interpreter, which is a bit steep, so we’re still deciding if we’re going to just wing it in Spanish!).

So after we’ve mastered the art of Basque cooking (ahem), we’re going to see how the pros do it with dinner at two fancy Michelin restaurants, Arzak and Akelare.

That will be followed by a trip across the French border to Toulouse, and then a day trip to Carcssone for a tour around a few vineyards with the lovely Juliet, who lives in Minervois and runs great food and wine tours around the area.